


A Rock And A Hard Place

by heterophobe



Series: poly misfits verse [1]
Category: Misfits (TV 2009)
Genre: Gen, Multi, Polyamory, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27004213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heterophobe/pseuds/heterophobe
Summary: Alisha wordlessly slides a folded piece of paper across the stainless steel. Then, leans back on her stool to sulk. He raises a brow and picks it up.Nathan and Alisha,Sort your shit out. We’re going to stay at a hotel this weekend. You can come join us if you talk.P.S Don’t take too long, we know neither of you can cook for shit, and we don’t want you to starve to death. XXOR: Nathan and Alisha suck at intimacy.
Relationships: Alisha Daniels & Nathan Young, Simon Bellamy/Alisha Daniels, Simon Bellamy/Nathan Young
Series: poly misfits verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970884
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	A Rock And A Hard Place

Nathan hobbles out of bed in nothing but his boxer shorts, and one of Kelly’s more beat-up looking hoodies. He's still half-asleep, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. Thanks to the blinding overheads, he navigates the loft more from memory than sight. 

It's unusually quiet, save for the occasional sounds of kitchenware clinking together. He makes his way to the kitchen, still blinking. The lights are a little dimmer in this end of the loft. “Man, we really need to do something about these lights.” Alisha is sitting at the breakfast bar, eating a bowl of cereal. She hasn't acknowledged him. “Where’s everyone?” He croaks.

Alisha barely looks up from her bowl. “Out.”

“Right.” He says tightly. “Thank you. Very informative.”

Alisha rolls her eyes.

“So, it’s just you and me then?” Nathan asks, scratching his collar bone. “I’m not bein’ funny, but, is that allowed? I thought Kelly had us on a 24 hour watch.”

“Can you shut up?” Alisha snaps. It's been like this the past few weeks. Neither of them bother walking on eggshells. So, when either of them is pissed at the other the whole loft gets to watch the ensuing shit show. 

“Alright, touchy. I’m just makin’ conversation.”

“Yeah, well, don’t.”

Nathan, for his part, does try. He even goes so far as to put on toast without commenting on the weird chewing noises she's making. They sit in silence for a minute or so, before the urge to speak becomes too intense to ward off: “So I suppose they’ve all planned this?” He theorises.

“Yeah.”

Nathan’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

Alisha wordlessly slides a folded piece of paper across the stainless steel. Then, leans back on her stool to sulk. He raises a brow and picks it up.

_Nathan and Alisha,_

_Sort your shit out. We’re going to stay at a hotel this weekend. You can come join us if you talk._

_P.S Don’t take too long. We know neither of you can cook for shit, and we don’t want you to starve to death. XX_

Nathan rolls his eyes, and scoffs loudly. “They’re a dramatic lot, aren’t they? I mean, starve to death? Really? It's like they haven't heard of a takeaway.” After a beat, he adds dejectedly: “Simon said he liked my omelette, lying bastard.”

Alisha cracks a small smile at that, which is more than he’s gotten out of her in days. He reciprocates, and slides the paper back into the middle of the table. It sits, centred between them.

“Alright, let’s get it over with then.” Nathan leans back in his chair expectantly.

Alisha’s gaze hardens. Clearly affronted by Nathan’s arrogance, she folds her arms in front of her chest. “Um, I am _not_ apologising to you,” She says, stubborn as ever. “ _I_ didn’t do anything wrong,”

Nathan laughs. “Oh Right. I just lashed out by myself then, did I?”

She smiles sardonically. “Yeah, sounds like you.”

“Well…” Nathan starts to argue, before he concedes: “good point.” He takes a bite of his unbuttered toast and chews it with his mouth open.

Alisha makes a frustrated noise, and storms over to the sink to empty the rest of her cereal bowl. She washes it out rather aggressively, before she retakes her seat and sets a fixed glare back onto Nathan.

When she doesn’t make a move to speak, he makes a crack at their standstill by boasting: “Well, with progress like this, we’ll be ready for group sex by dinner." He waggles his eyebrows, then thoughtfully adds: "I better get an enema ready.”

“I better get an enema ready,” Alisha mimics, twisting her face in an ugly sneer. “You are _such_ a cock slut.”

Nathan pokes his tongue out in retaliation. When Alisha doesn’t rise to the bait beyond a cocked brow, he deflates slightly, and rubs the bridge of his nose with his thumb. “I don’t know why they thought we could do this by ourselves, we’re clearly in need of some kind of umpire.”

Alisha snorts. “You got that right.”

It’s not until about an hour later, —when they’re lying, fully dressed, on opposite ends of the massive bed in the centre of the loft, rolled onto their sides, and pointedly not facing one another.— that Nathan puts down his Nokia, effectively abandoning his game of snake, and gives in.

“Alright, _fine_." He drags the word out lazily, and shifts his body over so he's looking at Alisha's back. "Cussing you out about your rape hands probably wasn’t my finest moment.”

Alisha turns around to face him, and waits for him to continue. When he doesn’t, she critiques: “Is that it?”

“Well, I don’t see you extending an olive branch.”

“I didn’t _do_ anything.”

Nathan huffs passive-aggressively, and gets off the bed. His smile is decidedly pissed-off. “Right.”

He’s half-way to the elevator when Alisha calls out: “Ugh, wait.” He doesn’t turn around, but he doesn’t keep walking either. So, Alisha follows him up to where he’s standing, keeping a healthy distance to avoid power-related mishaps. “I don’t know how to do this.” She admits, fidgeting with the hem of her shorts.

“What? And you think I do?” Nathan looks at her like she has two heads.

“No, just,” She groans, frustrated. “I know I was a bitch to you. I was just…”

“On the rag?” Nathan suggests.

Alisha gives him an unimpressed look, and hits him square in the chest.

"Ow!" He screws his face up in pain, and rubs his breast-bone tenderly as she continues.

“Jealous.” She confesses, looking like she wants to be literally anywhere else. Nathan supposes they have that in common. “You can give him all this stuff I can’t, you get to have all these… experiences, with him… I can’t even kiss him.”

Nathan scratches the back of his neck guiltily. He supposes he regrets throwing her power in her face mid-argument. Either that, or he's got some serious indigestion. The physical sensations that come from feelings are sometimes hard to pin down. “Well yeah,” He concurs, “but... he—" Nathan sighs reluctantly, rolling his eyes and making quotation marks with his fingers, "— _loves you_ and all that, doesn’t that count for something?”

Alisha scrunches her brow at him. “I guess.”

Nathan had expected a snort. After all, it is the one advantage she has on him around Simon. Mostly, though, she just looks confused. The crease in her brow deepens, and she squints at him a little. As if trying to decipher something in his expression. Nathan rarely admits weakness. So, even the vague implication of something he's a little (a lot) insecure about makes him feel overexposed and vulnerable, and not in the titillating, post-orgasm way.

Uncomfortable with the scrutiny, Nathan cuts through the weird tension in the room by cracking his knuckles. “Right. I need a smoke.” 

Alisha sees it for what it is: a ticket out of this conversation. Her and Nathan both used to smoke inside until Curtis started pitching a fit over the smell. She’s been trying to quit lately. Still, she follows him up the elevator, and into the parking lot, and they share a cigarette.

Nathan fists Kelly’s hoodie-sleeve around his bare hand, and offers it out to Alisha for a fist bump. “Mates?”

Alisha looks at it a little suspiciously, but eventually returns the gesture. Not without rolling her eyes, though. “Mates.”

Nathan takes a drag and offers the cigarette out to Alisha. She takes it. “Y’know, Barry reckons the reason we butt heads so much is because we’re so similar.” Nathan grins, “Figures he’s got a type.”

Alisha chokes on her inhale, and sputters a cough. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” He laughs, and takes the cigarette off of her for a drag. “What a twat.”

Alisha can’t help but agree. “I hope you cuffed him one for that,”

“Nah,” Nathan drawls. Then, perking up a little, he adds: “I can sick Kelly on him, though, if you like?”

Alisha smiles fondly at him, “She won’t hit him.”

Nathan considers this, grimacing in agreement. “Probably not.” After a beat, he continues: “And yet— She has no issue wit’ hittin’ me.” Nathan huffs, offended. “Y’know, you’d think the two of them were the ones shaggin’, what with her always takin’ his side.”

“Well, his side is usually the right one.” She gives him a smug look, “Between the two of you, anyway.”

Nathan makes a face at her and blows a puff of smoke into her face.

Irritated, she snatches the cigarette from his fingers and stomps it out.

“Hey!" Nathan protests, "Those cost money, y’know.”

“Good thing you never pay for them, then.” She retorts, walking away. After a few paces, Alisha stops, turns back to face him, and cocks her head in the direction of the street. “Well? You coming?”

He looks at her distrustfully for a moment, still grieving the cigarette stub she so ruthlessly disposed of. Eventually, though, he lets up. "Yeah, fine." He kicks the stub a little aimlessly, then follows after her.

**Author's Note:**

> Not yet sure if I should write any more for this verse. Just think lots of the characters dynamics had unexplored potential, both platonic and romantic, and this was an attempt to explore some of it. I'm gonna follow my muse and see where it takes me. This fic could probably do with some more editing, as it hasn't been beta'd. Feedback is always appreciated!


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